Blackbear Bosin (American, 1921–1980). Wind Spirit, ca. 1955. Oklahoma. Comanche-Kiowa. Paper, watercolor. Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Nola Bosin Kimble Estate (1955.9)
Reservations and Urban Life, 1910–65
Now isolated on little homesteads and small homogenous reservation communities distant from agency officials, Native peoples discreetly continued the tribal traditions of gathering for feasting when food was available. They prayed with the sacred pipe and sang the old Sun Dance songs.
Young Native families found employment in burgeoning postwar white towns and cities near reservations. Thus began a pattern of living and visiting part-time on the reservation, as increasingly people moved away to live closer to where they worked.
—Arthur Amiotte, Oglala Lakota Artist and Scholar
The history of Plains Indian people is one of endurance and survival. The nations worked to regain control of their lands, governing structure, religious rights, and education. They also turned to restoring significant cultural elements that had been lost or nearly lost.
—Emma I. Hansen, Pawnee Scholar
As a result of modern life, traditions intermingled. Tribal nations came together around the powwow, and elaborate new regalia emerged. Increasing interaction with Euro-Americans prompted the development of easel paintings, and this genre carried Plains Indian imagery and its meanings into the larger artistic dialogue.
—Gaylord Torrence, Curator
Reservations and Urban Life, 1910–65 section of the exhibition
